Love and War
by Misstyfoot
Summary: Anastasia is reborn as Anastasia Seacrest. After 2 weeks of being marked, Nyx gives her, her memories back in hope of her helping to defeat this new threat. Dragon is reborn as Bryan Mondragon. Bryda Lankford is Dragon's many times great niece as well as her former mentor. Kayani is a Cherokee native whose husband who died saving her is now a red Vampyre.
1. Chapter 1

~**~ Anna ~**~~

Ugg. This class couldn't be over soon enough! I hated this class. I could interpret some of these poems, if it was about nature, but these two poems had too many different symbolisms. In like every other line. It is freaking frustrating! When the bell rang for that class ended, I was the first one out the door. I ran down to the lunchroom. I wasn't hungry, so I just sat there. My cousin Thomas, came up with his new friend, I believed his name was Bryan Mondragon, I wasn't for sure though.

I didn't know much about him, even though he was familiar. He can be a little cocky and what not. He was about average height and had semi-long blonde hair and blue eyes. He was cute, but of course I wouldn't mention that to him and infuriate his ego. Have you ever had a time where you felt empty on the inside? Well I have, my whole entire life I felt like there was a huge hole inside me, but when I met Alex, for some reason, I felt whole.

"Sandra is out sick today, so you're stuck with us." Thomas said. "Oh wonderful." Was my real mature answer. The bell rang and I went to my locker when I saw him, the tracker. I looked around the hallway and I was the only one here. 'Aw hell' I thought.

"Anastasia Seacrest, Night has chosen thee. Thy death shall be thy birth. Hearken her sweet voice, your destiny awaits you at the house of night." And just like that, he was gone. Somehow, those words were extremely familiar, but they couldn't be, could they?

"Well, I guess I'm not attending afternoon classes." I sighed and grabbed my purse, tote and car keys. I walked outside and found my car (I somehow managed to get past the security guard, but then again, I do have a crescent moon in the middle of my forehead) and drove home. I called my dad at work. I told him everything that happened. I heard a loud sigh at the other end of the telephone. "By the time I get home tonight, you'd better be gone." He said and hung up. I wiped the threatening tears from my eyes. I had just been disowned and I had three hours to be gone forever. With a sigh, I started my packing and was done within the hour (I only packed the thing I wanted/needed). I put it all in the car and packed my small white cat, Guineve into the car. I placed my house key on the counter and drove away to the Tulsa house of night to my new life.

The high priestess met me outside. I parked my car, grabbed my cat and got out and walked over to her. She had dark wavy hair and tattoos all over her body. "Merry meet, I'm the high priestess for this HON and I'm Zoey Redbird, I presume you are Anastasia Seacrest?" She asked, and I could see her hiding her shock. I nodded. "My nickname is Anna." I said.

"Your mentor is in this building, she is the upper level fencing instructor here. So if you'll just follow me in here." Zoey said and I followed her into the Building. Once inside she could see two vampyres talking. One of the vampyres had long blonde hair and two horses on her forehead and the other had long curly blonde hair and two fencing foils crossed under her crescent moon and other designs surrounding it. They both stopped talking and turned to look at me when we walked in. I just didn't understand it, why did these two women look so familiar to me?

'_It will all be explained soon daughter'_ A voice in my head said. Both the vampyres looked at me in shock as Zoey had done, but then they were both over it quickly. "Anna, this is Lenobia, she will be your ES teacher." She said about the vampyre with the horse tattoos, "and your mentor, Bryda Lankford." She said about the other professor. The name Lankford was so danged familiar too. Zoey walked away. "Well, I got to get back to the stables, and Bryda, I want to talk to you later." Lenobia said. Bryda nodded and turned to me. "Alright, let's get you settled in. This is your schedule, and this is your handbook." My new mentor told me, handing me a book and a piece of paper.

She walked with me back to the car and helped me with my stuff. "So what's your cat's name?" Bryda asked me. "Guineve." I said. She nodded, "I've got one as well, her name is Misty." She said. "What do you like?" Bryda asked as we walked towards the dorms. "Um, plants, anything in nature, or nature poems and sometimes dancing." I told her. By this time we reached the dorms. Bryda led me to door numbered 206 and knocked on it. A girl with long straight black hair answered it. "Professor Bryda." She said, opening it all the way. "Mary, this is your roommate, Anna, she's my fledgling and I want you to get her situated." She told my new roommate and turned to me. "Now, if you have any questions, come find me." She said. I nodded. "Okay." I said and walked into my new dorm room.

That day I had a real vivid dream. A woman, who I guessed as Nyx came to me. "You'll be needed my dear daughter. Remember." She said and touched my forehead. That's when everything came flooding back. The times growing up in a Quaker family, to getting marked, starting as the youngest spells and rituals teacher at the Tower Grove HON and meeting Bryan "Dragon" Lankford all the way up to my death. I woke up hastily. I remembered who I was in my first life. I was Anastasia Lankford.

~~**~~ Bryda ~~**~~

I walked out of the girls' dorm and looked up at the dark sky. I heard a meow and looked out to see my cat, Misty. I picked her up and headed to Lenobia's stables. I had a hunch about Anna Seacrest, or more formally, Anastasia Seacrest. She could be the one and only, Anastasia Lankford. Lenobia looked up when I walked in. I sat Misty down and she ran off to play with Lenobia's cat. "I got Anna settled in." I said. "Is it just me, or is there something about Anna that seems so much like…" She started. "Anastasia?" I finished and she nodded. "I think we need to talk to Zoey and the other professors." I said.

She nodded. "Yeah, now that, we need to." Just then, Martyr came into the stables. We turned to look at my warrior and husband. "And I was just about to come and get you for the emergency meeting." He said. Martyr was tall and had deep green eyes. His tattoos were two lions facing the crescent moon. My warrior was also the tracker who marked me. Ironic right? We nodded and Lenobia grabbed her notebook and shut the stable doors. Marty offered me his arm and I took it. We walked up the long path up the main building and into the meeting room. Zoey was standing in the middle of the council room. There were two curved tables in each row, almost similar to the House of Congress. Stark was sitting in the first table in the second row, second to the last seat. His sister and my friend, the gymnastics professor (and Anastasia's former fledgling), Avalon Stark, sat on Starks other side, with her warrior, Elijah beside her. Martyr picked up one glass of red wine and handed another one to me. He sat at the other end of the first table of the first row and I sat beside him and Lenobia picked up her glass and sat beside me. Amorette, another friend of mine and Darius sister, sat at the second table of the first row with her Warrior, Ate, Darius, Aphrodite (Who got her mark back). In the row behind us, sat, Damien, his sister, Danya, Erin, Shawnee, Stevie Rae, Rephaim, and his half siblings, the twins, Kayani and Balin. The other professors and Sons of Erebus came in.

"Okay." Zoey said. "We need to talk about Bryda's new fledging, Anna Seacrest." She explained. "She looks exactly like Anastasia and that's even Anna's full name." Lenobia said. "I asked her what her hobbies were." I spoke up. "She said she liked nature, Poems and dancing. Her cat, named Guineve, is even small and white"

"Which is exactly how Anastasia was." Avalon said. "So that means?" Stark broke off. "That means that Dragon isn't too far behind her." I told them. Dragon was my many times great uncle and my former mentor. "What's the name of the next new student?" Marty asked. Zoey looked at a paper. "Bryan Mondragon." Zoey said, and then seemed to realize what she said. "Wait, the first name is the same and his last name has Dragon in it." She said.

"Is he enrolled in fencing?" Damien asked. Zoey nodded. "Well, we'll soon find out then." He said, "I'll probably have to send him to Bryda's upper level class."

"We'll just have to keep an eye on them." I said. Zoey nodded. "Yeah, we'll regroup in two weeks, meeting adjourned." She said. The sons of Erebus had a meeting on their own to go to, so I headed to the apartment. My cat and Martyr's cat named Howler were waiting by the door for me. "You two have a cat door, but you must wait for one of us to open the door." I muttered and opened the door. They followed me to the kitchen and I fed them and then went and got my shower. I dressed in a pair of Pajama bottoms and a tank top. I went back to the kitchen and cleaned the cat bowls up. Both cats were in the living room, both asleep in their beds.

The door opened and Martyr came in, muttering under his breath. "We had an intruder situation." He said and held up his forearm, which was bleeding. I sighed, "Come here." I said, taking his other arm and leading him to the sink. I cleaned off the wound and put that close up stuff on there. "You're good to go." I told him. He kissed my forehead. "Thanks. I'm going to get my shower." He said. I nodded. "And I'm going to bed."

I pulled the covers back and slid in. Martyr turned the lights off when he was done with his shower. He slid in beside me, facing me. He kissed me again and I laid my head on his chest while he wrapped an arm around me.

~~**~~ Alex ~~**~~

I've known I was Bryan "Dragon" Lankford a couple months now. The dreams started last year, and a lady that blended in with the night came to me. I did some research on my dreams and the topic of reincarnation came up. Another search led me to Dragon Lankford. I was playing back many things in my head when all of a sudden I fell down the stairs. "Ow, offf—man that hurt." I sat up and rubbed my head, that's when all the memories came rushing back to me. I now know that Nyx sent me those dreams and that both Anastasia and I were reincarnated. I remembered those last few weeks of my first life extremely well, from Anastasia's death, to me niece, Bryda yelling at me to remember my oath to Anastasia and the day of my death when I saved Rephaim, I don't regret it, I forgave him, after rethinking about the lecture that my niece (and former fledgling) gave me.

Memories back or not, I still had to go to school. I picked myself up off the ground and drove to school. In the parking lot is where I saw the tracker. Well, it seemed that I would be a fledgling again for the next four years. "Bryan Mondragon. Night has chosen thee. Thy death shall be thy birth. Hearken her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the house of night." He said and pointed a finger to my forehead and I knew that I'd been marked. I knew I couldn't return home now. My dad would disown me. I had some clothes and my blades and that's all I needed. I heard a meow and turned to look to see my black Maine coon. "Shadow!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Me—off." He grumbled. "Okay, Okay. We're going." I said and pulled out of the school parking lot and to the House of Night. I remembered that Anastasia Seacrest had been marked a couple weeks ago. She had to be my Anastasia, she just had to. Speaking of Anastasia, she and her cat (who was ironically a small and white cat) were waiting for me by the tree in the front of the school out of sight from the building.

By the looks in her eyes, I knew that she knew that I knew. I could tell she remembered who she was and who I was. I parked the car and she hugged me when I got out. "I remember everything." She said."Really? When?" I asked, keeping an arm around her, shutting my door when Shadow hopped out.

"Two weeks ago, after my first night here." She said, "Nyx came to me in a dream, I haven't told anyone, not even my mentor, who ironically is Bryda. I think yours is Lenobia." I groaned a little when she said that. "Knowing Bryda, she already suspects something." I told her. "Well you_ are_ the one that taught her everything she knows." She stated.

"Nyx must have a reason for all of this. I got my memories back when I fell down the stairs this morning." I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me. "You … fell down the stairs?" She said, a slight smile playing on her lips. "How many we know that work here anyway?" I asked her, changing the subject. She laughed at me.

"About 18. Give or take a few." She said, after she calmed down. "Anyway I have to get back to the dorm before my roommate suspects anything." She said and swiftly kissed me. "Come on Guineve" She told her cat and went back in the direction of the dorms. I sighed and got my stuff and walking to the entrance where Zoey was waiting for me. She hasn't changed much, expect maybe for a few more tattoos. "I suppose you are Bryan Mondragon." She said, clearing struggling to hold her surprise in. I nodded. "I'm Zoey Redbird, the Priestess here." She said. "We'll see if your mentor is here." She said, leading me inside. There was one other vampyre in the room, and upon a closer look, I realized it was Bryda. She hadn't changed much.

"Is Thomas disrupting your class again?" Zoey asked. Bryda, without looking up nodded. "Yeah, you'd think to be in upper level fencing, they'd be more mature, but evidently, that's not the case." She said, writing a few things down.

"Do you know where Lenobia is?" Zoey asked. "Her fledgling has arrived." Bryda looked up and noticed me for the first time. "Yeah, the stables." She said. "Ugg, well could you take Bryan to her." She nodded. Her expression stayed neutral, but her eyes gave her surprise away. "Yeah, sure, I gotta go that way anyway." She said and put the paper in a file. "Alright. Come on Bryan." Bryda said and led me out a back door. Everything had changed since I'd last been here. We past the field house and up to the stables. She walked quickly and swiftly and I followed her.

"Lenobia?" Bryda called. "Yeah Bry?" She asked coming into view. "Your Fledgling. Has arrived." She said, breaking it into two sentences. "Thanks Bryda." Lenobia said, barely containing her shock. "No problem." Bryda said, "But I've got to go, I have papers to grade." She said, heading towards the felid house. "Good luck" She called after her. Then Lenobia turned to me.


	2. Chapter 2

**~~~**~~~ Anastasia ~~~**~~~**

I snuck back into my dorm room after talking with dragon. I looked over at my roommate who was asleep. I climbed into my bed. There had to be a reason why Nyx gave us our memories back. I wished I could talk to Bryda about this, I mean she does have High Priestess training. I decided to wait to talk to Dragon and we could both tell Bryda and Lenobia together.

My first class is French with Amorette. I could understand French a little, since I always went with Dragon to France for his Fencing completions. He may perfect with regular sword fighting, but I think Bryda had almost has him beat in the fencing department. I was so glad that Amorette didn't speak French the whole entire time, because I didn't understand a lot of it.

My second hour was Sociology with Zoey. My third hour was Anatomy with Rephaim. I didn't blame him for my death, Nyx forgave him and I forgave him. I knew that Dragon forgave him when he gave his life to save him from Aurox. He was a pretty good teacher. My fourth hour was Gymnastics with Avalon Stark, my former fledgling. I was really proud of how she turned out to be. She took everything I taught her and used it in her everyday life.

I had lunch with Mary and then I went to my fifth hour, Native American History with Prof. Kayani. She was Rephaim's half sister. Dragon was in that class too, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him as Kayani was showing us a movie, she was an extremely interesting teacher. She was the granddaughter of the Cherokee chief at the time of her birth so everything she taught was accurate. My final and sixth hour was Spells and Rituals with Avalon and Erin Bates. Erin was a temporary teacher and Avalon was helping her.

**~~~**~~~ Bryan/Dragon ~~~**~~~**

I entered my sixth hour class, lower level fencing with Damien Maslin. My First hour had been Sociology with Shawnee Cole. Second hour, Philosophy with Aphrodite Lafont. Third hour, ES with Lenobia. Fourth hour, Writing with Danya Maslin, Lunch and then fifth hour, Native American History with Kayani Cumbee. Anastasia was also in that class.

Damien went over a few drills and had us to spar; I took down my opponent each time. The students looked shocked and unbeknownst to Damien, I saw his slight smile and I heard him whisper to himself. "He's back." And then a little louder. "I've got to make a quick phone call."

Moments later, Bryda came into the area. She had on simple workout/fencing pants and a tank top with the silver professors' symbol on it. Her hair was piled on top of her head to keep it out of her face. He whispered something to her, which sounded something like "You can tell that's Dragon all right." Then he said louder, "Alex, can you do that one more time for Bryda?"

I nodded and redid the whole workout drill. She looked shocked, the first time I actually managed to make her surprised like that. "I haven't seen sword work like that in 100 years." She said. I could tell she only said that for measures. I could see Damien decided to play along. "Yeah, not since your uncle." He said. Bryda nodded. "Well, I'm doing testing/monitoring on Monday, so I'll get him settled in my class then." She said. "I would like to see the two of you during a fencing match." A kid to my left said. That child shouldn't have said that. Damien and Bryda were the two most competitive fencers I've ever seen, even though Damien lost every time. The two professors looked at each other and Bryda shrugged. "Heck, Why not?" She said. "He'll be going down anyway, but it'll have to wait until after school." She said. "Yeah what she sa—Hey!" Damien said. Bryda shrugged. "It's marked onto my forehead." She said, tapping her forehead and walking out of the room.

I sighed and shook my head. Damien didn't stand a chance, not even I could stand a chance against Bryda in fencing, that's why it was tattooed onto her forehead, and she was one of the best students I had ever taught. I was extremely proud of her.

The match lasted only an hour. It ended when Damien tripped and Bryda pressed her tip against his chest. "Touch." She said, "And it's my game." She helped him up. "All these years, and I still don't know how you manage to do that." He said after Bryda pulled him up. "I was taught by the best." She said with a smile on her face. "More like related to the best." He muttered.

I saw Anastasia push her way through the crowd. "I need to talk to you." She said. We walked over to a tree away from everyone. "It's been a week since Nyx gave us our memories back; I think we ought to tell Lenobia and Bryda." She said. I nodded. "Yeah, there is no use in hiding it from them." I sighed. She took my arm and we walked over to our mentors were talking to Bryda's warrior, Martyr.

Bryda must have changed while I was talking to Anastasia because she didn't have on her fencing uniform on; she was now wearing boots, a plaid shirt and jeans. They looked at us. "Lenobia, Bryda, we need to talk to you." Anastasia said. Bryda and Lenobia exchanged glances, as if they knew something was up. "We can talk in the stables." She said. Bryda turned to Martyr. "I guess we'll be right back." She said. We walked to the stables and sat on hay blades. The two full grown vampyres looked at us expectantly. "Nyx gave us back our memories." Anastasia said. "We know who we are." I added.

**~~~**~~~ Bryda ~~~**~~~**

"You mean you two know everything that you've been through?" Lenobia asked. Dragon nodded. "From the time I got marked in England to when Bryda got onto me a couple weeks before I died." He said. "Can't say I'm not surprised. I mean I knew the day when Anastasia walked through that door that it was only a matter of time. We held a council meeting that day." I told them.

Lenobia nodded. "We talked about reincarnation. It was actually Bryda that brought that you wouldn't be that far behind Anastasia." She told Dragon. "So what do we do now?" Anastasia asked. I looked over at my fledgling. "Well, we don't have to worry about the two of you not making the change since Nyx gave you your memories back, I think we have bigger things to worry about and the only person I can think of to talk to is Thanatos." I said. "Sounds like we're going to England." Lenobia stated. I nodded. "But first we have to talk to Zoey and the other vamps." We walked out of the stables and towards the felid house. "Marty, I need you to gather the other vamps into the meeting room, I'll explain then." I told him. My warrior nodded and headed off.

By the time we got there, everyone was there. I noticed Anastasia cling to Dragon's arm. Once we were all in, I shut the door. "They remember." I said, going to stand beside my husband. "What are we going to do?" Zoey asked. "Well, Bryda and I talked about going to England and talking to Thanatos about this and do some research on what could be coming to cause Nyx to give them their memories back." Lenobia said. Zoey nodded. "That sounds like a good plan, but keep in touch." She said. "I just have one question." We all turned to look at Damien. "Um, what should we call them by?" He asked, gesturing towards Anastasia and Dragon.

"You guys are all used to calling us Dragon and Anastasia." Dragon said, "Just call us that." Avalon looked at them. "Yeah, we are, but I don't think we should tell the fledglings, let them call you by Bryan and Anna." She said. Zoey nodded. "Yeah, that might be best. So it's settled. Bryda, Lenobia, Anastasia and Dragon along with Martyr, Kayani and Balin will go to England. The plane leaves at 11:00 this morning to get there by nighttime." And with that, the meeting was adjourned. We all went our separate ways and I followed Martyr back to our apartment. The cats were outside waiting for us. Martyr turned to me with an eyebrow raised. "Welcome to my world. They do this every day." I said.

We went inside, and Martyr fed the cats while I cleaned up a little bit. Then we headed to the bedroom to pack some clothes. I put the bags in the living room and got my shower after my husband did. I dried off and dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms and a tee-shirt. I slid into bed next to Marty and cut out the lamp. He slid his arms around my waist and I soon fell asleep when the alarm went off at 5pm. I got up and dressed and attempted to wake Marty up. He was always difficult to get up, but eventually, he did wake up. He groaned and got dressed as I made the bed up. We met up with the others and were at the airport by 10:30.


	3. Chapter 3

**~~~**~~~ Anastasia ~~~**~~~**

About an hour before the plane landed, everyone started to get ready. "You two need to cover up your marks, just until we get to the HON over there." Bryda said, handing me some foundation. I covered my mark and then handed it to Bryan. **((A/N: Only Anastasia calls Dragon, Bryan while alone)).** In a matter of time, my life was twisted and turned around, and it'd only been a few short weeks. I sighed.

Kayani and Balin are the Native American twins of Kalona. I knew the both of them had wings, but they had some kind of chain/jewelry that ridded the wings until they took them off. Kayani wore a pair of dark jeans, a black tank under a red tank that was under a white tank top with black stripes and pink roses on it. She wore tanning Terry Spider boat shoes (that reminded me of Moccasins). Her long thick dark hair was down and she wore beaded feathers in her hair. She wore a long golden chain with charms like a leaf, feather, and an arrow. Balin was a Son of Erebus warrior and like his sister, he had light russet skin, and had dark brown eyes. He had semi-long thick dark hair and wore a single feather in it. He had on jeans and shoes. His sister tossed him a black tee-shirt. "Balin, You have to wear this. You don't want to look conspicuous." She said.

Bryda wore jeans with holes in them and a lavender colored tank top. She wore her traditional Lankford family crest necklace and golden heart bangles. Her hair was loosely flowing around her. Even Lenobia was dressed differently. She wore a pair of light colored jeans, and a black tee with a horse charm on a long silver chain. Bryda's warrior, Martyr had on black jeans and a white tee. I had on light shaded jeans with a black tank under a laced purple top and Dragon was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt.

When the plane landed, I fell in beside Kayani. "I know you had a warrior, but whatever happened to him?" I asked her. "Ekanga died about 25 years ago protecting me. " She said. I also knew she was married to him before they were both marked along with her brother.

**~~~**~~~ Kayani ~~~**~~~**

I was born in the 1100's to the Cherokee Indians Tribe's, Chief Hiresh's daughter, Atmaia, and of course Kalona. I was born 5 minutes earlier than my brother, Balin. The medicine woman had made us chain jewelry things to get rid of our wings unless we want them to show. I was married to Ekanga was I was 14, and he, Balin and I were marked when I was 15. When we completed the change, Ekanga pledged his warrior's oath to me. Then in 1800, I died, but I was brought back to life. Balin had told me that Ekanga had nearly went insane, that is until I woke up, he wouldn't let go of me for a few hours until I reminded him over and over that I was alive and well. Then, about 25 years ago, in 2088, there was an attack, and Ekanga died protecting me. It was an extremely devastating loss for me and I'm still not over it. I think I cried for months. But life went on, and so did I. Nyx came to me one day last week in a dream that he wasn't dead and that I needed to be patient. I still didn't know what she meant by that_. 'Don't worry daughter, you'll find out in a few short hours.'_ A voice inside my head said.

Bryda volunteered to drive and we had to go through Lankford, England to get there. The town was beautiful and it was where Dragon and Bryda's family had come from. Bryda mentioned something about having a 63 year old brother."Whoa, wait, hold it! You have a 63 year old brother!?" Dragon exclaimed. Bryda nodded. "Yeah, he was born when I was 65. My dad was 85 when he was born. My brother is still alive and he lives at the main house." Bryda said, as we pasted it. "When did your dad die?" Anastasia asked. "About 48 years ago, in 2065. He was 99 years old, a couple of months from being 100." She said "My brother was 14. Martyr and I took him in for a while. It was in my dad's will."

We reached the HON an hour later. Bryda parked nearest to the road and we got out. "Marty, you and Balin stay with Anastasia and Dragon until I call for you. Lenobia, Kayani and I will talk to them first." Bryda instructed. We walked to the steps where Thanatos stood with a winged figure that was my father by her side. "Lenobia, Bryda, Kayani." She acknowledged us. "So Zoey called with information that something was up?" She asked. Bryda nodded. "The issue of reincarnation." She said

"Kayani should have information about that. She's Native American and she was brought back to life and her warrior died." I nodded. "That's true, but it doesn't have to do with the Cherokee, I hope, but I was revived and Nyx came to me in a dream last week and told me that Ekanga is still alive." I told them. My father looked at me with sympathy and Thanatos looked a mixture between knowing and confusion. "Martyr, Balin, you can bring them here now." Bryda said. My brother and Martyr came into view with Anastasia and Dragon. "They are what we are thinking of reincarnations of Anastasia and Dragon, and they remember everything." Lenobia said, as Martyr stood next to Bryda and my brother behind me. Dragon and Anastasia stood on the steps.

"That is possible, but Nyx must have a reason for this." Thanatos said. I nodded. "Yeah, we think something bigger is coming for them to need their memories, we were hoping to do some research." I told her. Thanatos nodded. "You can use the library in the Council house down the road, but first Kayani, I need to talk to you." She said. She shared a look with my father and he nodded. I told Balin to go wait with the others by the gate. "Kayani, Nyx is right when she said that Ekanga is still alive, but not in the way that you'd expect." Thanatos said. I looked confused. "U-We-Tsi-A-Ge-Yv" My father said; that was the Cherokee word for daughter. "What exactly did Nyx tell you?" he asked

"She said that Ekanga was still alive and that I needed to be patient." I said. _"You will be reunited with him soon daughter." _Nyx said in my head. "He is alive." Thanatos said. I looked up at her confused. She held up a hand, "It isn't what you think. When he came here, he was more alive than when you saw him go down protecting you, but he wasn't a blue vampyre anymore, he was a red vampyre." Thanatos told me. I nodded taking all that in. "Where is he now?" I asked. "He's currently at the Council house. He's been training to keep his humanity and not give in to the dark side until he's been able to control it." My father said. "Which he's now mastered, he can now be returned to you." Thanatos said. _"And be patient with your warrior."_ Nyx said. When we reached the gate, we filled them in. When we got to the house, dad took them around back for the tour. "Wait here, I'll go get him." Thanatos said. I nodded and let my bag drop beside me. I took deep breaths. He hasn't been by my side for 25 years. I was Kept telling myself to stay calm until I saw him. Then he came into view. He wasn't much different. He was still taller than me, his skin just a tad bit darker than mine. His hair was still long, dark and thick, though it was currently braided down his back, and his dark brown eyes showed no red. The only thing that changed was the two wolves that faced his moon on his forehead were now red. He wore jeans and shoes.

"Ekanga?" I had to be sure that this was the real him, that he wasn't totally effected by the change from a blue vampyre to red. His reply told me that even though we'd been apart for 25 years that he still knew me and how I felt. "It's really me Tsi-ge-yv-i" **((A/N: I think it means 'My Love in Cherokee))**

That's all I needed to hear from him. I ran up to him and hugged him. I had my arms around his neck and he held me closely and tightly to him. I thanked Nyx for keeping my husband alive. "Who is all with you?" Ekanga asked once we were sitting on a bench, waiting for the others to arrive."Um, Bryda, Martyr, Lenobia, Balin and the reincarnations of Dragon and Anastasia." I told him. He looked at me confused, well, Dragon _HAD_ been the leader of the Sons of Erebus, and that was what Ekanga was.

"Dragon and Anastasia have been reincarnated. Nyx gave them their memories back, and it has to be for a reason. We suspect something must be coming, something big." I said. "Again?" He sighed. I sighed "Well, it could be Neferet getting revenge again." I said. 25 years ago, when I'd originally lost Ekanga, she'd killed one of our High Priestesses, Pandora, she'd even tried to kill me, but after Ekanga went down for me, she gave up. Ekanga obviously knew what I was thinking of; because he wrapped an arm around me and held me close to his side as a laid my head on his shoulder.

Everyone rejoined us about 5 minutes later. Since it was about an hour until dawn, Thanatos showed everyone where they would be sleeping. I had a different room with Ekanga (He didn't stay in Council house; it'd been at the HON). Bryda and Martyr were across from us, my brother beside us, Lenobia on the other side and Dragon and Anastasia beside Bryda and Martyr.

I already knew when the sun came out and once Ekanga fell asleep, he'd be as dead. I didn't change into sleepwear. I didn't feel like it. "I know I'm still bond to you, but how did you feel when I was assumed dead?" Ekanga asked when I crawled into bed beside him. I kissed him lightly and sighed.

"You've been my warrior as well as my husband for _over_ a thousand years. I didn't take it lightly. I spent the last 25 years thinking you were dead. I didn't know until last week when Nyx told me that you were alive." I didn't realize that I was crying until he brushed some of my tears away and sat up and pulled me into his arms until I calmed down. "I'm here now, and I won't leave you again." He said and gently kissed me.

"Oh, and if I'm not here tonight, check the library." I said. He nodded. I laid my head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. "A-yv Gv-ge-yu-i Ni-hi." He said. "I love you too." I told him.

I woke up at 5pm. It was almost dark. I looked over at Ekanga, who was sound asleep. I got out of bed and dressed in a pair of light shaded jeans and a brown tank top under a teal, pink and gray plaid shirt. I shut the bedroom door behind me. The others minus Balin were in the hall. "We're just waiting on your brother" Bryda said. I nodded. "I got this, and Ekanga will sleep right through it." I said. "BALIN! Get your butt up Di-na-da-nv-tli!" I semi-yelled after knocking on his door.

Sure enough my brother emerged in jeans and a red tee a couple minutes later. "Hmm, it true, red vampyres can sleep through anything, even Kayani, and nothing can escape my U-vl when she gets like this." He mumbled. "Balin, we told her to. We have to get to work." Bryda said. We went down to get breakfast and then we hit the books. I suddenly knew what could be happening. "Oh my goddess! I think I know what's going on!" I exclaimed. "What?" Balin asked. I got up and went down to the whiteboard beside the long stairwell (Which is the basement/library) and grabbed a black marker and wrote something down.

"Uyaga?" Bryda asked confused. "He's an evil Cherokee earth spirit which is invariably opposed to the forces of right and light" A voice said. We turned to see Ekanga walking down the step. He had on jeans and a black tee, and his hair was down. "Yeah, basically what he said. If Neferet teamed up with them, and something else I think I know, then we're in a lot of trouble." I said. "And what would that be?" Dragon asked. "The Nun'Yunu'Wi" Ekanga said, hugging me from behind. Balin groaned, "Well, that's not good"

Lenobia looked confused "what's the Nun'u'we'? She asked. . "The Nun'Yunu'Wi." I said. "It's an evil spirit monster who preys on humans. It has been said that it's described as a human-like being with a skin as hard as stone that no weapon can pierce. It carries some kind of magical cane which points out victims and has other magical powers. Despite its monstrousness, it is described as a powerful sorcerer or medicine man. It literally devours human beings." I explained, leaning back in Ekanga.

"According to our myth, the Nun'Yunu'Wi was led by its cane to one of the Cherokee villages. However, that village had been warned in advance by a hunter who had spotted the creature in the mountains. The medicine man warned the villagers that, though the monster would be very difficult to kill with weapons, it could not bear the sight of a menstruating woman. So seven women were assembled and placed in front of the village. After the monster had seen them all, it was weakened so much that it could not move. The medicine man then burned the creature, and its remains contained a great jewel and lumps of red paint." Balin said.

"But then again, that's just a myth though, but if Uyaga is around, then the Nun'Yunu'Wi could be too." Ekanga said.


End file.
